Global Business Today 6e

by Charles W.L. Hill

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 7

Foreign Direct Investment

Introduction
Question: What is foreign direct investment?
Foreign direct investment (FDI) occurs when a firm invests directly in new facilities to produce and/or market in a foreign country Once a firm undertakes FDI it becomes a multinational enterprise There are two forms of FDI A greenfield investment (the establishment of a wholly new operation in a foreign country) Acquisition or merging with an existing firm in the foreign country
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Foreign Direct Investment in the World Economy

There are two ways to look at FDI The flow of FDI refers to the amount of FDI undertaken over a given time period The stock of FDI refers to the total accumulated value of foreign-owned assets at a given time Outflows of FDI are the flows of FDI out of a country Inflows of FDI are the flows of FDI into a country Both the flow and stock of FDI in the world economy has increased over the last 20 years
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Foreign Direct Investment in the World Economy

Historically, most FDI has been directed at the developed nations of the world, with the United States being a favorite target FDI inflows have remained high during the early 2000s for the United States, and also for the European Union South, East, and Southeast Asia, and particularly China, are now seeing an increase of FDI inflows Latin America is also emerging as an important region for FDI
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Foreign Direct Investment in the World Economy

The majority of cross-border investment involves mergers and acquisitions rather than greenfield investments In the last two decades, there has been a shift towards FDI in services

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Theories of Foreign Direct Investment

Question: Why do firms prefer FDI to either exporting (producing goods at home and then shipping them to the receiving country for sale) or licensing (granting a foreign entity the right to produce and sell the firms product in return for a royalty fee on every unit that the foreign entity sells)?
To answer this question, we need to look at the limitations of exporting and licensing, and the advantages of FDI

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Theories of Foreign Direct Investment

It is common for firms in the same industry to 1. have similar strategic behavior and undertake foreign direct investment around the same time 2. direct their investment activities towards certain locations at certain stages in the product life cycle John Dunnings eclectic paradigm argues that in addition to the various factors discussed earlier, two additional factors - locationspecific advantages and externalities - must be considered when explaining both the rationale for and the direction of foreign direct investment
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Political Ideology and Foreign Direct Investment

Ideology toward FDI has ranged from a radical stance that is hostile to all FDI to the non-interventionist principle of free market economies Between these two extremes is an approach that might be called pragmatic nationalism In recent years, there has been a strong shift toward the free market stance
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Political Ideology and Foreign Direct Investment

The radical view argues that the MNE is an instrument of imperialist domination and a tool for exploiting host countries to the exclusive benefit of their capitalist-imperialist home countries The free market view argues that international production should be distributed among countries according to the theory of comparative advantage The pragmatic nationalist view is that FDI has both benefits, such as inflows of capital, technology, skills and jobs, and costs, such as repatriation of profits to the home country and a negative balance of payments effect
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Benefits and Costs of FDI

Question: What are the benefits and costs of FDI?
The benefits and costs of FDI must be explored from the perspective of both the host (receiving) country and the home (source) country

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Benefits and Costs of FDI

The main benefits of inward FDI for a host country are 1. the resource transfer effect 2. the employment effect 3. the balance of payments effect 4. effects on competition and economic growth

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Benefits and Costs of FDI

There are three main costs of inward FDI 1. the possible adverse effects of FDI on competition within the host nation 2. adverse effects on the balance of payments 3. the perceived loss of national sovereignty and autonomy

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Benefits and Costs of FDI

The benefits of FDI to the home country include 1. the effect on the capital account of the home countrys balance of payments from the inward flow of foreign earnings 2. the employment effects that arise from outward FDI 3. the gains from learning valuable skills from foreign markets that can subsequently be transferred back to the home country

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Benefits and Costs of FDI

The most important concerns for the home country center around 1. The balance-of-payments 2. Employment effects of outward FDI

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Government Policy Instruments and FDI

FDI can be regulated by both home and host countries Governments can implement policies to 1. encourage FDI 2. discourage FDI Until recently there has been no consistent involvement by multinational institutions in the governing of FDI The formation of the World Trade Organization in 1995 is changing this
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Implications for Managers

Question: What does FDI mean for international businesses? The theory of FDI has implications for strategic behavior of firms Government policy on FDI can also be important for international businesses

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